King of All I Survey-Chapter 76: We’re Under Attack!

With ten minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting, there were still a large number of people milling around outside the entrance. Groups of people talking, trying to see how everybody was feeling about Rafael’s abrupt change. Was he sincere? Was it some ploy to take over everything from the other cartels? Was he being forced into this action by the police? Was it the CIA blackmailing him somehow? Those who knew him best said he could never be forced to do something that way. Maybe he fell in love with this Flores woman and she convinced him to change...

Some were skeptical and had been reluctant to show up, but the promise of amnesty and a good paying job, even job training and education for a better future was too much too resist, especially when combined with Rafael’s reputation. He could be ruthless, you had to be in his business, but he was honest. If he said he was going to do something, he did.

He always took time to get to know people. If he met you once, he would call you by name the next time he saw you, even a year later. If you had talked about your parents, he would ask about your mother’s health and if your father had enough help on the farm. They all agreed that Rafael Camal de Leon cared about his people and that he was one of them.

Dad, Joe, and I listened and watched through the drones invisibly monitoring the area. We had four inside and six at low level outside. Two more at higher altitudes covered the city and a low orbital drone watched the entire area.

The tactical map was up on our display showing the movements of identified people in the area. Of course, there was a huge melding of dots as Rafael’s former criminal associates flowed toward the warehouse. We had changed the color coding on them from red to yellow to separate them from true hostiles.

We could see the blue dots of local police moving around Sacapulas. President Arroyo had agreed to keep them at least a half kilometer away from the warehouse unless there was trouble. The map showed that he was keeping his word.

"Joe, who are the black dots in the group?" I asked, noticing a few mixed in with the blue dots in and around the warehouse.

"Not all of Rafael’s people were identified. There were low level gang members or other associates who did not previously show up on the communications or interaction we monitored. Because we didn’t have them listed as members of his organization, they are not color coded as such. The drones are scanning for weapons, however, and while a fair number of the crowd have knives on them, we are intercepting those with guns before they get to the vicinity. We give them a choice, keep the gun and go home, the police will be waiting there, or sell us the gun for 800 Quetzales. That’s a very generous sum. Four have refused the deal and left the area. Twelve refused the deal and left, but then stashed their gun somewhere else and returned without it. We let those through but have a flag in their files."

"OK, sounds good," I told him.

Suddenly, there were numerous bright red blinking dots on the map. "We have a problem," Joe announced, Six armed men, unidentified, have moved within the perimeter. They are approaching the building slowly, from cover. A police car is also moving toward the entrance."

Alarmed, I asked, "Is it Arroyo? Is he moving against Rafael?" I exchanged a look with Dad. He was as surprised and worried as I was.

"The men in the police vehicle are not known officers. The others are unidentified as well. If it was Arroyo’s people, we would have them tagged and we would have heard the communications. This could be the unknown group from El Salvador, or some other party. Your orders?"

"Get everyone inside the building, NOW! The shield will protect them, " I ordered. I watched as Manny and the other paramilitaries we had on site got the message from Joe in their ear pieces and began herding people inside.

"Rafael is about to start, everybody inside!" They shouted. Forming an alert circle around the group. They had handguns in hidden holsters, but did not draw them. The remaining crowd moved into the building, with just a little grumbling. Our guys shepherded those who hung back, and everybody was inside. The flashing red dots around the building seemed to find the positions they wanted to be in. They stopped moving. Some were on rooftops or in windows with direct line of sight to the packed warehouse. I used the tactical map to zoom in, they had what looked like rocket launchers, the map identified them as RPG-7s, rocket propelled grenade launchers, Each was loaded with a fragmentation grenade, each man had two more lying on the ground beside them. Apparently, they intended to kill and injure as many as they could. If they were able to fire those into the densely packed warehouse, hundreds would be killed and hundreds more badly wounded. There’d be no way to keep that out of the news. There would be retaliation by the survivors against the government who would be blamed. The general population would see it as a government betrayal of the promised amnesty. It was a well thought out plan. Except they didn’t know the shielded walls of the Food First warehouse would easily stop the weapons. Still having them explode against the outer wall would reveal our shields and upset those within, almost as much as if they had penetrated.

"Joe, use the laser drones to slice those launchers in half, immediately. Put LITV transports on each of the six and put them in cells on Blue Island, knock them out first. Keep them unconscious until further notice. What about the police car? Are they armed?"

"Acknowledged. Yes, they have handguns, and long rifles in the car. I am monitoring their conversation now. They are checking the time. Four minutes after the scheduled start is their targeted time. They are going to pull up to the building with siren engaged, take out the long rifles and begin firing. They will use the vehicles crowd control loudspeaker to issue threats in the name of President Arroyo, then open fire from a distance of 50 yards to avoid the RPG shrapnel. They plan to shoot those fleeing from the building very publicly."

"Put them to sleep as soon as their vehicle stops moving," I ordered. "Any further ID from their conversation?"

"Acknowledged. No, there is no discussion of their affiliation. Facial recognition finds no matches with identified persons of interest in the Guatemala theater," Joe informed us.

"If this is our unknown hit squad," Dad mused, "then they were set in motion by a call from the Colombian cartel. And even though we picked up the top brass of that specific cartel about an hour ago, they are still on the job."

"There have been no new communications to Guatemala or El Salvador from known cartel members today, and nothing mentioned about an ongoing operation," Joe added.

"Have we interrogated the original source of the call?" I asked, "Joe, you can pull the information out of his memory?"

"Not exactly, I can ask targeted questions and have 100% certainty about the truthfulness of the answers, and I can use his responses to refine the questioning until I have the exact information you want. Depending upon the level of resistance, getting results very quickly can cause some damage. Especially if I have to force him to want to answer."

"Understood, hold off for now, I want to actively participate in questioning later. Nothing that damages their minds unless we have an imminent threat." I said. I saw Dad nodding approvingly from the corner of my eye.

"The people in the car are unconscious. Shall I transport them to cells?" Joe asked.

"Not yet, but keep them out. Let me know if anyone approaches the vehicle. Any additional potential threats around the building?"

"None identified, no weapons within the original perimeter. I have expanded the secure zone by 2 miles. There are some ordinary guns within that distance, but none that look like they are involved in any potential hostile action against the warehouse. No actual police incursions past the agreed distance."

"So this isn’t Arroyo or anyone we know of associated with the government," I said aloud, repeating what we had already decided, "but it looks like a very well-planned and organized effort with access to military grade weaponry. Joe, you’d know if those weapons passed over the border?"

"Yes, I have scanning drones patrolling the border continuously, without knowledge of the drones’ precise path and schedule, it would be impossible to get past them undetected. Even with that information, which I guarantee had not been compromised, it would be very difficult. It is a near certainty that the weapons were inside Guatemala at least 48 hours before the start of the Chiapas incursion. Furthermore, they were not at any location we actively monitored as potentially hostile sites. They are not the same manufacture as Guatemalan military inventory, so they were not sourced there. RPG-7s can be acquired internationally through black market channels, as can the specific munitions in possession of our targets."

"OK, notify the warehouse paramilitaries that we believe the threat is neutralized. Station two guards outside the building on high alert and using cover against possible sniper activity. We have... what? 12 more inside? Keep them on high alert, actively scanning the crowd for any possible hostile actions." Have Luis inform Maribel and Rafael of the presence of unidentified armed shooters apprehended nearby. Tell them, the area is secure, proceed as intended, caution them not to mention this in any way to anyone," I commanded. It looked like the speech might go according to plan after all. Hopefully, there would be no further surprises.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel